Captain Kirk actor "Shatners" oldest person in space record

 

For Captain James Tiberius Kirk space was the final frontier.

For William Shatner, the actor who portrayed him on network television, Saturday Morning cartoons and multiple motion pictures space was just another step in a long and illustrious career.  The 90 year became the oldest person in space on October 13th ,making the trek from science fiction to science fact.  

Alphabetical Fragments (and a Puppyism)

 AS IN FRIDAY

Last week,I announced I would probably not be  participating in the next few editions of Friday Fragments at Half Past Kissing Time.  My reasoning was that with 26 posts to write in 30 days time, I would probably not want to waste any of my ideas by consolidating them into fragment form. 

So, why am I here?  Well,quite simply, it is because  Friday and Fragments both begin with today's letter (which by the way is F).  I could not resist.  So, I decided to share with the Friday Fragments community some fragments regarding blogging A to Z.

Blogging A to Z, simply put is a blogging challenge.  You choose 26 words, one from each letter of the alphabet.  The fun started this Sunday and excluding the remaining Sundays of the month of April the alphabetical posts will continue until Z on April 30th. 

1,852 blogs signed up to participate at the A to Z Home Page. Many participants, like myself, are just making random posts using a different letter each time.  However, many blogs are centering their entries on a theme.

For my fragments this week, I have chosen 5 participating blogs that are sporting a theme and will provide a link to one of the entries they have already contributed.

ALPHA FRAGMENT A:

The first blog is right before mine in the list of participants.  Kimberly of Meetings with my Muse has an alliteration theme.  Each day she shares an alliterative sentence or two featuring  the letter of the day, and then opens up her comments for submissions.  At the end of the month she will be giving some amazon gift cards to some of the best submissions.  Here is her A post.

ALPHA FRAGMENT B

The next blog, is the Star Trek Science Blog. I believe it is the only blog on my blogroll that is participating in the challenge. It is also, I believe, how I found out about Blogging A to Z.  Oddly enough, they have a Star Trek them for their submissions.  I really enjoyed B is for Boothby, I hope you do as well.

ALPHA FRAGMENT C

One of my mini goals for this month is to visit 740 of the participating blogs.  This is because I am the 371st blog on the list.  So by looking at all 370 ahead of me and the first 370 after me I would get to 740.  I found Words and Pictures  while working my way back from 741.   The pictures, for this month anyway, are moving ones.  Yes, each day she posts about a movie.  This Tuesday, she wrote about Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

ALPHA FRAGMENT D

The next blog is one of the first 5 blogs listed at the main page.  Stephen Tremp of Breakthrough is basing all his posts on what is called the Goldilocks Zone.  I think this refers to the parts of this vast universe that will sustain human life.  I have found his articles very enlightening and encouraging.  I present D is for Distance. 

ALPHA FRAGMENT E

I actually found this next blog through the previous blog.  Stephen, perhaps in his role, as a co host of Blogging A to Z, gave a shout out to the Blog Gospel Driven Disciples.  I checked it out and Greg is blogging about the people, places and words of the Bible.  On Thursday he wrote E is for Eve.

AND A PUPPYISM

I usually can't get through a Friday Fragment session without a puppyism.  This is because Puppy can't usually go a day without a shareable nugget.  This morning I handed her math book and told her to go into her work department and I'd be right there to help her with it.  She looked at the assignment and started panicking.  "Subtraction!"  I can't do subtraction."  I told her to bring the book to the work department and I'd help her when I got there.  After I got Spider Droid started with his math I walked over to Puppy and saw that she had already started.  I asked her if she needed help with her subtraction and she said "no, this is just minusing."

That's all the fragments I have for today.  For more Friday Fragments click here.  For more  blogging A to Z click here.  Thanks for stopping by and make sure you come back here  tomorrow.  I don't want to give away anything.  I just want to state that I will be putting in my 25 cents worth.  In the radio biz, that's what we call a tease. 

Video Shmideo

I am putting off my post about our recent trip to the zoo to share a few links to videos.

The son of an elder from my church, a home school student, has entered a contest that is hinged upon how many views his you tube video receives. This is an excellent video entitled Let's revolutionize higher education!. The idea presented here is revolutionary, and presented very ably. I encourage you to watch it and tell others about it.



The movie Star Trek Generations was on Hulu this week reminding me that I have it on videocassette. Charlie watched it last night and absolutely cracked up at a scene, that I had almost forgotten. We showed the scene to Emma and she just loved it as well. In the movie, the android Data is experimenting with an emotions chip. In the scene my children enjoyed he is asked by Commander Riker to scan for life forms. Here is the result.

Speaking of movies, I was reminded on the radio that today is the thirtieth anniversary of the miracle on ice. Yep, thirty years ago Herb Brooks and his US Hockey team defeated the Russians in the Olympics. Prior to the game coach Brooks gave the team a pep talk. Here is a rendition of that pep talk from the movie Miracle.


You may have already seen the you tube video of a 4 year old giving the Brooks speech. It's worth watching over again if you have. I really thought that was impressive until I saw him on Ellen. It is one thing to quote it in your living room, but something else entirely to recite it in fromt of t.v. cameras and a live audience.

Well that's all the footage I have time to present today. I hope you enjoyed it all.

Next Time: The Z Double O

Died in 2009

One of the big highlights at our house growing up come Oscar or Emmy time was the listing of those who died in the past year. Here are just a few who passed away the same year as Keith did . . .

Bea Arthur - Actress. Died April 25th at age of 86. Best known for work in Maude and Golden Girls. She was actually just portraying our Grandma Friedrichs.

Corazon Aquino - World Leader. Died August 1st at age 76. Beloved president of Philippines.

Walter Cronkite - Anchor Man. Died July 17 at age 92. Longtime CBS News icon.

Larry Gelbart - Television and Movie Producer. Died September 11th at age 81. Creator of M*A*S*H (the T.V. show not the movie, acronym or potatoes).

John Hughes - Movie Director. Died August 6th at age 59. Known for his work on Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles. Ricardo Montalban.

Died January 14th at age 88. Veteran actor best known for his work on Fantasy Island. Keith and I know him best for playing Khan. In Star Trek II Wrath of Khan.

Star Trek Interruptions

Word Count Wednesday: 100 Words or Les

The Carnival of Homeschooling is hosted at The Informed Parent this week. One post by Home School and Etc. entitled Star Trek Homeschooling caught my attention.

I have been slowly indoctrinating my children into the world of Star Trek. Last month, we watched several episodes of Star Trek Deep Space Nine. We were watching one episode when two of the characters started kissing. Charlie was outraged. "Who interrupted a perfectly good Star Trek Episode with kissing?" He shouted at the screen.

I was very proud that he has his priorities firmly in place.

A Message From Springfield

Springfield, IL

I saw the new Star Trek movie last night. I tried to come into the movie with low to modest expectations. It is hard to maintain low to modest expectations for a movie you travel 225 miles to see. This is especially true, when the first leg of your journey includes Chicago's Friday rush hour traffic.

Chicago was not blacked out for the premiere. I decided to mark the occasion with a visit of a dear Star Trek loving friend in Springfield. I am blogging from his computer at this instant. Another college friend went with us and just hanging out together was enough to make the evening a success regardless of the merit of the film.

Star Trek, in my opinion was a blast rather than a bust. It re imagines the series without dismantling it. From the opening sequence to the closing credits it was a festival of imagination and innovation. Actually the closing credits were pretty standard fare. They did however give me an idea for my next career once this home schooling gig has run it's course: Font Advisor.
(I know that is such a Times New Roman thing to say, but all my jobs can't be wingdings.)

My friend has amassed quite the library of movies and t.v. shows and comic books. I have watched episodes of Dark Wing Duck. Doctor Who, Life on Mars and The Batman (cartoon version) and read the first issue of the Marvel adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. You have to make room for the classics.

I also went into down town Springfield sat on a bench right next to Abraham Lincoln, spent time in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, visited the television station my friend works for, and saw cougars and Chinese barking deer at the local zoo. That's pretty good considering I have only been in town for 27 hours.

My friend (I'd mention his name but that's classified information, alright it's Clark Kent. There were cut backs at Metropolis and he's been re-stationed in Springfield.) lives about a mile from one of the best 2 restaurants in one building combos in the history of restaurant sharing. Long John Silvers meets A&W Root Beer. Been there once already and hitting it on my way out tomorrow.

I do miss my family, it's nice to get away from time to time, but even nicer to head back home. I hope Clark doesn't miss Season 1&2 of Dark Wing Duck. "When there's trouble you call D.W.!"

Next Time: Not Much, What's a Co-op with you?

Beginnings Part IV: Star Trek on Purpose

It was December 6, 1991. My Mom's 52 birthday. I was nearing the end of my penultimate semester of college. My best friend called me in my dorm room and asked what I was doing that night. I told her that Matthew, Joe and I (and perhaps others) were off to Peoria (or perhaps Springfield) to see Star Trek 6 The Undiscovered Country. There were 2 theatres consisting of 4 screens in our college town and catching the premiere of a movie often meant heading out of town.

I will always remember my best friend's reaction. She said: "on purpose?"

I still have the same best friend. I married her 11 years ago to make it official. She is still into me but not into Star Trek.

I, on the other hand, love Star Trek. We never watched the show as a family when it ran from 1966 to 1969 on NBC. (Yes, I am old enough, to have done so.) I began watching Star Trek reruns at my friend Jeff's house when I was in junior high. While there I discovered that the best two things that go with pizza are root beer and Star Trek.

I did not see the first two Star Trek movies in the theatre. The first film of the franchise I saw at all was Star Trek II which I saw at my friend Dominick's house. It remains to this day my favorite. I have seen all the rest in the theatre generally on opening night.

Now let me make a few clarifications. 1) I hardly ever see movies on opening night. So seeing Star Trek on opening night is a big deal. 2) I am not exactly a trekkie. While I own many d.v.d's and video cassettes only 1 is Star Trek related. 3) I don't speak Klingon, would never dress like a character, and have never lived in a house with a basement (reference to famous SNL sketch. Click here to see it.)

Star Trek is a friendly passion for me rather than an obsession. I love to watch a t.v. episode or movie with friends who enjoy it as much or more as I do.

A new Star Trek movie comes out Friday and I am going to go see it, on purpose. In fact, although I am sure that the movie will be playing at the theatre a mile from my house I am going to drive nearly 4 hours to Springfield and watch it with the aforementioned Matthew who now lives there. I am looking forward to reconnecting with him, and watching lots of t.v shows and movies together like the old days. Next Saturday or Sunday I will post from there and tell you how it's going. It's Springfield, it's hardly where no man has gone before, but I will boldly go.

Next Time: What Time is it?